Irish Whales John Flanagan Martin Sheridan James Mitchel

The Irish Whales or "The Whales" was a nickname given to a group of Irish,

Irish-American Irish Americans () are Irish ethnics who live within in the United States, whether immigrants from Ireland or Americans with full or partial Irish ancestry. Irish immigration to the United States From the 17th century to the mid-19th c ...

and

Irish-Canadian Irish Canadians () are Canadian citizens who have full or partial Irish heritage including descendants who trace their ancestry to immigrants who originated in Ireland. 1.2 million Irish immigrants arrived from 1825 to 1970, and at least half o ...

athletes who dominated weight-throwing events in the first two decades of the 20th century. "This group dominated the field events, particularly throwing events, at the

Amateur Athletic Union The Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) is an amateur sports organization based in the United States. A multi-sport organization, the AAU is dedicated exclusively to the promotion and development of amateur sports and physical fitness programs. It h ...

national championships and at the

Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games (Olympics; ) are the world's preeminent international Olympic sports, sporting events. They feature summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a Multi-s ...

between 1896 and 1924." They were primarily members of the

Irish American Athletic Club The Irish American Athletic Club was an amateur athletic organization, based in Queens, New York, at the beginning of the 20th century. Early years Established on January 30, 1898, originally as the "Greater New York Irish Athletic Association", ...

, and the

New York Athletic Club The New York Athletic Club is a Gentlemen's club, private social club and athletic club in New York (state), New York state. Founded in 1868, the club has approximately 8,600 members and two facilities: the City House, located at 180 Central Pa ...

and also members of the

New York City Police Department The City of New York Police Department, also referred to as New York City Police Department (NYPD), is the primary law enforcement agency within New York City. Established on May 23, 1845, the NYPD is the largest, and one of the oldest, munic ...

. They were known as such because of their athletic prowess, physical size, voracious appetites, and their impact on a generation of sports fans. The Irish Whales included; John Flanagan,

Simon Gillis Simon Peter Gillis (April 6, 1875 – January 14, 1964) was an American track and field athlete, a member of the New York Athletic Club, and the New York City Police Department. He was one of a group of athletes known as the Irish Whales and ...

, James Mitchell, Pat McDonald,

Paddy Ryan Patrick Ryan (15 March 1851 – 14 December 1900) was an Irish American boxer, and became the bare-knuckle American heavyweight champion on 30 May 1880, after he won the title from Joe Goss. He retained the title until losing it to the excep ...

Martin Sheridan Martin John Sheridan (March 28, 1881 – March 27, 1918) was an Irish Americans, Irish-American athlete and three time Olympic Games gold medallist in discus throw. Born in Bohola, County Mayo, Ireland, he was a participant of both the 190 ...

Matt McGrath Matthew John McGrath (December 28, 1875 – January 29, 1941) was a member of the Irish American Athletic Club, the New York Athletic Club, and the New York City Police Department. At the time of his death at age 64, he attained the rank of Pol ...

and

Con Walsh Cornelius Edward "Con" Walsh (24 April 1885 – 7 December 1961) was an Irish Canadian athlete who represented Canada at the 1908 Summer Olympics. He was born in Carriganimma. He won a bronze medal in the hammer throw, finishing third behind fe ...

. What Sheridan lacked in girth, he made up for with his appetite and athletic accomplishments, nine

Olympic medal An Olympic medal is awarded to successful competitors at one of the Olympic Games. There are three classes of medal to be won: gold medal, gold, silver medal, silver, and bronze medal, bronze, awarded to first, second, and third place, respect ...

s in all. "Matt McGrath was built like a wedge. He was a six-footer, but he weighed 248 pounds. John Flanagan was about the same. Simon Gillis was 6′2″ and 240. Paddy Ryan was 6′5″ and 296, while Pat McDonald was 6′5″ and 300 pounds.""All About Whales." ''New York Times'', July 13, 1964.

Origin

While it is not entirely clear when this moniker came into use, and was likely not used in the face of any of these giant men, it seems to have first appeared in print in 1937 in John Kieran's ''New York Times'' column, "Sports of the Times", written by John Drebinger (who was substituting for Kieran). The term was further popularized in "Sports of the Times" columns written by Arthur Daly in the ''New York Times,'' with the first reference to "The Whales" in 1942. On the subject of the origin of this nickname, Daly wrote:

"It was on the Olympic trip of 1912 that the 'whale' nickname took hold. Dan Ferris, then a cherubic little boy, recalls it with relish. 'Those big fellows,' he related, 'all sat at the same table and their waiter was a small chap. Before we reached Stockholm he had lost twenty pounds, worn down by bringing them food. Once as he passed me he muttered under his breath, 'It's whales they are, not men.' They used to take five plates of soup as a starter and then gulp down three or four steaks with trimmings. That Simon Gillis would think nothing of having a dozen eggs for breakfast. But what fascinated me was the way he ate them. He'd put a dab of mustard on each and eat it whole, shell and all.' The Irish American A.C. behemoths always were the life of any party.""About Some Whales, Human Variety."''New York Times'', June 12, 1942

Another tale of the Irish Whales' voracious appetites came from Arthur Daly's typewriter twenty-two years later. In a ''Times'' column in 1964 he wrote:

"Some of their more prodigious feats were at the table. The Irish American A.C. was competing in Baltimore when (Simon) Gillis placed an order for a post-meet snack with the head waiter at a local restaurant. He ordered 27 dozen
oysters Oyster is the common name for a number of different families of Seawater, salt-water bivalve molluscs that live in Marine (ocean), marine or Brackish water, brackish habitats. In some species, the valves are highly Calcification, calcified, a ...
and six huge T-bone steaks. Slight Miscalculation - The waiter was ready when Gillis, McDonald and McGrath arrived. The table had been set for a party of 33. 'Do you want to wait for the rest of your group?' asked the headwaiter. He turned pale as he watched three whales devour 27 dozen oysters and six huge T-bone steaks."

Summary table

Heights and weights are taken from various reference sources; heights given sometimes vary by several inches, while, obviously, weight can fluctuate substantially over an athlete's career. All Olympic medals won were for the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

, except for Con Walsh's which was for

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

. The

1906 Intercalated Games The 1906 Intercalated Games or 1906 Olympic Games (), held from 22 April 1906 to 2 May 1906, was an international multi-sport event that was celebrated in Athens, Kingdom of Greece. They were at the time considered to be Olympic Games and were re ...

were considered an Olympic event at the time, but are not now counted among official Olympic Games.

References

;Footnotes ;Sources * *

External links

Sports.reference.com 1908 Summer OlympicsWinged Fist Organization
{{Webarchive, url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090201111542/http://www.wingedfist.org/ , date=2009-02-01 New York Athletic Club Irish-American history Irish-Canadian culture Nicknamed groups of Olympic competitors

Origin

Summary table

See also

References

External links